I am sorta partial to Miller products,I have been around a lot of different brands and Miller seems to be dependable and affordable. The skys the limit on price you can pay, anywhere from $300.00 to thousands of dollars. Just try to get one with the highest duty cycle so when you want to do some serious welding you dont have to stop after a few minutes of continuos use.
might sound dumb but what is duty cycle ? we have a lincon at work i use from time to time its works real good but i dont have thousands of dollars maybe 400.00 ..........
[FONT=Times, Times New Roman, Bookman, Schoolbook, Century Schoolbook]Duty cycle is a welding equipment specification which defines the number of minutes, within a 10 minute period, during which a given welder can safely produce a particular welding current.[/FONT] [FONT=Times, Times New Roman, Bookman, Schoolbook, Century Schoolbook]For example, a 150 amp. welder with a 30% duty cycle must be "rested" for at least 7 minutes after 3 minutes of continuous welding. [/FONT] It sort of depends on what you are going to do with the welder as to how important the duty cycle is, for body work welding duty cycle is not as important because you dont want to heat the panel too much as it will cause the metal to destort and makes it a real pain to get straight, for frame welding it is nice to do the weld all at once and get it over with. Lincoln is good also, for $400.00 it would be pretty hard to get a 220 welder but you can always watch craigslist and keep an eye out for a good used one. You can get quite a few welders at 120 volts for $400.00 and under. I am by no means an expert, just passing on my experience.
Yes I use 120v welder all the time for light duty stuff, on frame type stuff I use a stick welder but could use the wire feed just have to be a little more patient because of the duty cycle on my welder is only 20. I too am like you and cant afford a high dollar welder, I just picked one up from Home Depot and got the tank but you dont have to have the tank as you could use flux core wire, its messy cause you have slag. I upgraded to larger size tank cause little tanks go empty too fast and its frustrating having to go get gas all time. Total cost in the one I have with larger tank is right around $400.00.
The 220 welders have higher duty cycles and will weld thicker pieces in one pass. I would recommend that you contact Miller or a local welding supply house for advice on what you can get for your money. I bought my miller 7-10 years ago for less than $300 and it will handle up to 3/8" in a single pass and has an 80% duty cycle. I have only run it past that once and it just shuts off to rest. Body metal can be welded with any of the smaller units if you allow the unit to rest (frustrating). If you are going to want to weld anything larger you are farther ahead with a larger unit.
I had a Lincoln Weld Pac 100 for many years. Did major repairs on many cars with it. Great welder for the price.
Lincolns are a great welder, I got a Hobart handler 140 with gas and it is a great machine. Of course Hobart is now owned by Miller and I think Miller makes one heck of a welder.
I've seen the best prices on a Hobart 140 at Tractor Supply Company. That welder will do over 85% of what you will do on a Maverick.
Mike I love my Hobart 140 Handler for the average stuff. I also have a miller 220 for heavy duty stuff....... I use the Hobart much much more.......... I picked the hobart up used with a full large tank for 400.00 in great shape
i am a retired mach. of 74 years old i have a dual mig welder from harbor freight ii paid less than 300.00 for it and it works just fine it wont do to build a bridge but around the garage it is all you need it is 220 volts it is gas or gasless i like the gasless as it dont cost as much to buy flux wire than it dose to buy gas and a lot less trouble to move around no need for gauges , tank or tank stand sku#94164 if you want to go cheeper go for it if you dont like it for any reason take it back and they will give you the next one up if you bought the extended warrranty on the first one they will try to get out of doing that but that is their policy.it works i used it harry
thanks for the info fellas. i sware this has been the hardest decision choosing a welder......................
Welder I use a Century, it is at least 12 years old and the main thing I like about it is you can put a 30# spool of wire on it and it has a treco gun. Texasjack
